TIP: Why drinking water is really so important

Water is essential

About 60% of our body consists of water: in our cells, between our cells, in our blood, in our saliva and in our urine . What does water do in your body. The amount of water in our bodies is very closely controlled and very small changes can already have a major impact. If you lose 2% body water, you may already suffer from headaches and fatigue, your physical performance will drop and your ability to concentrate will also suffer. Your body can soak without food, but only a few days without water. Water, a super drink.

What are the functions of water in your body?

First and foremost, water is a building block for your body. Drink plenty of clean water. As mentioned earlier, your body consists of approximately 60% water (this varies depending on your amount of muscle mass and fat mass). This water is in the body's cells and gives firmness and structure to your body tissues. For example, your skin will look much smoother and firmer if you drink enough water (yup, less wrinkles!). Water forms the basis for your saliva, otherwise you would not be able to swallow. It also forms the basis for your sweat, because if you are very severely dehydrated, you will also stop sweating. Sweating is an important process that helps the body to cool down, to keep its core temperature as stable as possible. Water also helps with what we call 'thermoregulation', ie keeping the body temperature stable.

In addition, water also forms the basis for your blood and thus your blood volume. That is very important for good blood pressure and pumping your heart. It is also around your joints and in your eyes and serves as a kind of 'shock absorber'; it protects against shocks and bumps from the outside. By eating not only nutrients are released into your body, waste products are also formed. Water ensures that the nutrients can be dissolved and therefore better absorbed by your body. The waste that is released during this process must be removed. This is the task of the liver and the kidneys, but by drinking enough you can help your liver and kidneys to remove these waste more quickly. You can also see this in your urine: if it is very yellow or very dark, it means that you have not drank enough. There are a number of tools for this:

Finally, a lot of chemical processes take place in your body where water is necessary. You often read that you have to drink more water to lose weight. Will you really lose weight by drinking more water? No, water will not make your body fat disappear magically, but it is true that all processes in your body will run better when you are sufficiently hydrated. You will also feel better, your skin will look better and because you feel better about yourself, you will probably perform better in other areas.
How much water should you drink?

You have probably heard many times that you have to drink 1.5 liters of water a day. That is a very general guideline, because the amount of water a person needs is very individual and depends on a number of factors. For example, the climate plays a very important role. In areas such as Australia and Africa and certain parts of America, where it is very hot, you will get dehydrated much faster. It is therefore difficult to determine how much water someone should drink, but 1.5 liters is a nice guideline. You look best at your urine to determine if you have drunk enough or not.

Water can be obtained by drinking, but also by eating. About 20% of the amount of water that we need comes from solid food. Of course it is logical that you will get more water from fruit, for example, than from bread. Dry foods naturally deliver less moisture. You must drink the remaining 80% by drinking. The best thing is that for the most part you just drink water, but occasionally soft drinks, coffee, tea, milk ... are also okay of course. It is simply not the intention that you drink 1.5 liters of coffee and then think that you are sufficiently hydrated (on the contrary, coffee is diuretic!) But you can for example aim for 1 liter of water and fill in the remaining 0.5 liters with other drink. Drink plenty of water, give the body what it needs.

You also lose water

To conclude, I want to give you just how much water your body loses in a day. To make it clear that these losses must also be supplemented! Your body loses about 2 to 3 liters of water a day. This is done through the kidneys, skin, breathing and digestion. In one day time you will urinate about 1 to 2 liters of fluid; a certain amount of this is necessary to remove waste and of course it also depends on how much you have drunk. Depending on the temperature and the humidity you will sweat and thus also lose 300-400 ml of water through the skin. The warmer and humid, the more you will lose. You also lose the same amount of water by simply breathing.

Finally, there is also a small amount of water in your bowel movements. That is usually about 150-200ml.